The New York Knicks will be facing elimination when they take the court in their Game 5 matchup against the Indiana Pacers. And with that comes what could be the final episode of Inside the NBA on TNT programming.
Inside the NBA will still be produced by Turner in the 2025-26 NBA season. But it will be aired on ESPN, meaning that whichever game in the Knicks-Pacers series is the final one will also be the end of Inside the NBA as we currently know it.
During an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show on Tuesday, Johnson previewed what could be the final Inside the NBA on TNT on Thursday. And while Johnson can’t promise that he won’t get emotional at some point in his final broadcast, the final show won’t be “over the top” discussions about the show’s end on the network.
“Do you think you will or you won’t be emotional the last broadcast?” asked Dan Le Batard.
“I’m actually trying not to think about that,” replied Johnson. “Because I think the potential is there. Because there has been times this season where it hits you. And you think about, ‘Wow, nobody is ever gonna say the NBA on TNT again.’ After 35 years of this relationship, having it end, it does get emotional. We’re not going to be over the top, but we’re certainly going to have some folks to thank.
“I haven’t really thought about what I’m going to say that last night, and so it’s not like you want to prepare something. I think we’ll all have something to say, but I think we also realize that for the four of us, it would be really weird, Dan, if this were the end of us together, and it’s not going to be because the show’s going to continue, just on another network on an ABC/ESPN kind of combo. We’re gonna have the same folks we see running camera and producing the show, that’s gonna be the same. It’s just gonna run at a different place. But if this were the end of the four of us together, I would want this series to go 29 games.”
Some challenges are to be expected with the show’s move to ESPN. But given their track record of excellent work as the widely regarded best studio show in all of sports media, expect for the Inside the NBA crew to continue to find a way to make this transition work and continue to entertain viewers watching at home.